At a recent meeting of brownfield cleanup professionals, Ohio EPA announced plans to issue letters to owners of property contaminated with TCE. Ohio EPA says it reviewed thousands of sites and will be issuing letters to "hundreds" of sites where it has information in its files that TCE is present. Based on this review, the
Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio: Part 4 of 4
This is the final post discussing the current state of brownfield redevelopment in Ohio. It provides suggested changes to the regulations and incentives in Ohio to accelerate brownfield redevelopment. The prior posts in this series discussed the following:
- The Issues Presented by Brownfields- In particular the impact to Urban Centers
- The Current State of Brownfield
Ohio EPA Proposed Voluntary Action Program (VAP) Rule Changes
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Ohio EPA is moving forward with substantial changes to the rules for the Voluntary Action Program (VAP) which governs the procedures and standards for voluntary cleanup of industrial sites and brownfields. The Agency provided an overview of the changes and its response to public comments last week at the Ohio Brownfields Conference in Columbus.
The
Difference between “Classic” VAP and VAP MOA
In Ohio, the primary brownfield cleanup program is known as the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). Volunteers can cleanup their site to commercial/industrial or residential standards. Upon completing the cleanup the volunteer can receive a legal release from the State of Ohio (called a "Covenant-Not-to-Sue" or CNS).
The CNS under the VAP does not include a
Is the Voluntary Clean Up Program in Ohio Working?
In 1994, the State created the Voluntary Action Program (VAP) to promote voluntary clean up of industrial and commercial sites, including those currently utilized as well as brownfields.
By 1994 standards the VAP program was cutting edge. It utilized certified professionals (CPs) who performed the investigation and implemented clean ups to meet standards established by
Ohio Bill Introduced to Give Tax Credit for Site Remediation
The Ohio House has introduced a bill that would provide a tax incentive to clean up contaminated properties. House Bill 10, if enacted, would provide an exemption from penalties as well as a tax credit to encourage companies to voluntarily remediate property.
Similar to other existing tax incentives, the bill encourages companies to remediate property under Ohio’s Voluntary
Ohio Brownfield Tax Abatement Law Needs Improvement
I was interviewed for a story on the local NPR station in Cleveland about a Northeast Ohio company that nearly went bankrupt because of confusion over Ohio’s brownfield tax abatement law. The title of the story was "How a Poorly Worded Tax Rule Nearly Bankrupted Ohio’s Oldest Company." Listen to the whole story by clicking